Payments Made After Project Closing Date Warrant Refund & Criminal Prosecution …ACC Warns Heads Of MDAs

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has called on public officers to ensure that they diligently implement projects according laid down procedures and rules.
This admonition was made by the ACC in their press release dated 23rd October 2024 noting that it has come to their attention that some Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have not been implementing donor projects appropriately for which government incur the loss.
The ACC stated that payments that are made without following the laid down procedures and rules will warrant a refund of the money and criminal prosecution of the individual or parties involved.
The ACC called on all public officials to follow measures captured in their press release with regards the implementation of donor funded projects.
“…failing which will lead to serious consequences including, the responsible individuals (public officials) refunding the money through ACC for onward payment to the Donors by the Government of Sierra Leone, and face criminal prosecution under the Anti-Corruption Act 2008, as amended in 2019, where deemed necessary,” the release stated.
That, all payments made after the project closing date are ineligible expenditure, and therefore must not be made except with the express extension from the donor.
That an approval must be granted by the funders for any expenses after the project closing date, and all expenses after the project closing date must be approved by the authorised project signatories.
That any additional disbursements or advances are contingent on complete retirement or justification of the money previously received.
That all activities must be in line with the approved Annual Work Plan, and any adjustments to the approved work plan must have the explicit approval of the funders.
That all project Bank Account(s) should remain dormant at the project closing date, as all unutilized funds in the project bank accounts, after project closing date must be transferred to the funders with evidence of refund retained by the project.
That where there is need for an extension of the project, a letter requesting same must be sent to the funders for their approval. An approval in writing must be received and silence will not be considered as an approval by the Donor.
And that when there is change of signatories to the project bank account, it must be communicated to the funders.
The Commission maintained that it will set up a Task Force to audit all pending projects and accordingly hold accountable Project Heads and or fiduciaries, particularly Projects Accountants and Auditors, where there are anomalies that may lead to liabilities to the government.